Is this some kind of mutation?

“Hey, Possessor. Hey! What are they doing? Weren’t their smarts on the level of ancient snails?”

‘I don’t know! How would I know? You, as a trainee, should know better! Turn on the search window!’

“Ah! Why does this ridiculous variable keep popping up when I’m in charge of the trainee throne? Ah! Search window!”

Zero cried out while swinging her staff, not forgetting to look for the search window.

I was equally flustered.

Really… it’s not like I want to die… XX…

Why does another crisis appear whenever we seem to get past one? Huh? Can’t we have a peaceful and smooth development? Huh?

I want to go home. Send me home.

‘…At this point, we can’t use this secret passage anymore.’

Yes, let’s destroy the zombies and the secret passage entrance! Haha! Blow them all up!

I took out a small magical bomb I had brought and laid it on the floor, then spoke to the remaining party members.

“Here, it looks like we’ll have to detonate this, so please help with the setup.”

“……You intend to blow up both the zombies and the entrance to the secret passage?”

Mikhail asked me with a serious face. He was ready to draw his sword from his waist, presumably to decapitate zombies using his divine power.

“Yes, yes. It seems safer to destroy everything.”

Loose also agreed with me.

“I think so too. Those zombies, though weak, seem to possess some level of intelligence. Whether they’re mutants or something else, it’s right to eliminate them here.”

Benedict nodded alongside Loose.

“……If those zombies gain intelligence, it would be dangerous. It would be less troublesome in the future if we deal with them as Loose suggested. When we hid the homeland of the fairies, El-[Dash]-Seka, the first thing we did was to permanently silence the humans who were hunting them.”

“…….”

Benedict, I appreciate that you agree with me but… the only word that comes to mind hearing that is ‘genocide.’ Even though those guys deserved it, as a human, I’m scared that you might try to finish me off too…

Ignoring Benedict’s statement, I changed the subject.

“Uh, anyway, take these. Each of you take these small bombs and install them throughout the building!”

After everyone took bombs and dispersed, I was about to set one up in the room when I heard someone’s voice.

“I’ll do it too.”

“Huh?”

The voice was deep, yet soft.

The voice belonged to Ashton Clitter, the Duke of Whitewood.

He wasn’t a party member, so I casually addressed him.

“Uh, Duke of Whitewood?”
“……Heard my story from Jacqueline Celeste, have you? There are but a handful of people within this empire who would know who I am.”

“Mm, yes. I came to know from the Duchess Jacqueline Celeste.”

“Is that so.”

The duke, Ashton Cliter, who responded in a low voice, then started to carefully place the small magic bombs I had laid out.

“……? Wait a moment. Why are you, Duke Whitewood, doing this?”

“Is it not allowed?”

“No, it’s not that… You should quickly evacuate through the secret passage along with the other refugees. Wouldn’t the people of the Celeste Duchess be waiting for the Duke?”

Despite my words, Ashton meticulously placed bombs all over the floor and walls. He managed to attach the bombs skillfully even without being told how to use them. It seemed he had handled weapons quite a bit.

“They won’t be waiting for me.”

“What are you saying? Aren’t you cousins with Duchess Jacqueline Celeste? So, you’re relatives. How can family not wait for you?”

‘I… even though he’s not my real father, my heart sank when Duke Henry Keaton was tragically killed by zombies.’

It wasn’t like I had affection for him. He hadn’t done me any favors either.

But still, it’s a sad thing when someone you know dies.

“If it were me, I’d certainly worry and wait. Even if we aren’t of the same blood, it would be painful if someone familiar never returned. All the more so if family doesn’t return…”

At my words, Ashton hesitated for a moment. His expressionless face wavered briefly, like a stone thrown into calm waters, but it stabilized soon after.

“……Duke Keaton is more compassionate than I thought.”

“I’m not that compassionate. I’m just an ordinary person. Everyone would think this much.”

“No. There are many in this world who don’t. People who’ve considered me a nuisance all my life and eventually wish for my existence to be erased, like the royal family.”

‘Damn bean flour family.’

I couldn’t know the exact circumstances, but it smelled like a soap opera. There was no such description in the original work, was there, Author? Why were you so cruel to him?

While I couldn’t continue speaking, Ashton proceeded to carefully and thoroughly place the bombs with diligent hands.

“So running to a safe place alone is meaningless to me. Sharing these dangerous moments, where I can be remembered, is more valuable to me.”